Ermine from the North
by Padra the Otter
Summary: Orick's horde is at their prime, but a new threat is rising up in the North. Can the horde stand firm, or will they be crushed? Reviews are appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Orick went to bed smiling. His horde had dominated yet another village, and he'd procured many prisoners. He entered his tent, ignoring the unfamiliar sent. Preoccupied thinking about his next move, and with his back to the door, he planned his next move. He didn't notice another ermine sneak into his tent. Suddenly, someone grabbed him from behind, threw him to the floor, pinned him there, and put a dagger against his throat.

"What are you doing?" Orick demanded.

"Surrender your horde, now," the other ermine said. He briefly emphasized "now" by pressing the dagger harder against Orick's throat.

"Do you think you can just acquire it?" Orick sneered.

"You won't think it's funny when I cut your throat," the other ermine threatened, lifting Orick from the ground. Outside, hearing their leader voice, two ermines burst into the tent. One had brown fur and a double-headed battle-ax. The other had a black patch over one eye and a hook and chain.

"What are you doing? What do you want?" The brown-furred one blurted out. The other ermine dropped Orick, slashed a quick slit in the fabric, and ran out. Orick looked at Fishtooth and Valker and said, "Fishtooth and Valker, chase after him-I want to know everything about him." Both ermine nodded and gave chase.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of camp, an ermine army waited in the shadows for their captain's signal.

"What's taking so long?" An ermine named Whiplash whispered.

"I don't know," an ermine named Firestorm whispered back. "Either he's injured or dead."

They heard a tent flap burst open, and they saw their captain run out; they saw two ermine run after him.

"Great, he's being chased," Whiplash said.

Fishtooth and Valker ran after the ermine who had threated their master. They had sight of him for a while, but he soon faded in the darkness. Finding him was slightly difficult since there were black spots on his coat. After they had searched for a while, Valker said, "We need to go back."

"We can't do that," Fishtooth said. "Do you remember what Orick did to Browntail…" he didn't finish his sentence, but they both shuddered. Just a few days ago, Browntail had been obstinate toward Orick, and Orick ignored him…up to a point. Later, he took out his rapier and sliced Browntail's throat in front of the entire army. It hadn't been the first time a warrior had been stubborn-Luzzi, Orick's tent guard, and Kril, leader of the tracking team, had been obstinate; in the end, it cost them their lives.

"He'll kill us if we go back," Fishtooth said.

"I think he's putting too much power on himself," Valker said. "He's becoming haughtier every day."

"That's why we have two captains," Fishtooth said. "It's a shame Deatheye won't stand up for himself, and Keshar's too ignorant to know anything." Valker nodded. A sudden thought hit Valker. "I know how we should get rid of our horde drudgery," he said.

"What do expect us to do? Stage a revolt and overthrow Orick?" Fishtooth asked.

"Yes, that's precisely what we should do," Valker answered.

"Is that a joke?" Fishtooth asked. "Overthrowing a horde isn't a small job."

Valker was just about to answer when they heard a rumble in the distance. A cold wind from the south started blowing fiercely, and there capes fluttered all over the place.

"There's a storm coming," Fishtooth said. "Let's find that ermine and get out of here. We'll talk more about this later." They left and searched for the ermine.

As the sun started to rise, the storm clouds blackened it, and it started advancing toward Orick's camp.

** Chapter 2 **

The entire horde woke to overcast skies, and it was windy.

Orick was awakened by a scream. He looked out of his tent and saw, to his surprise and relief, Fishtooth and Valker had not one, but two ermines. One was struggling like no tomorrow, hurling insults at Fishtooth. The other one was placid and not putting up a fight.

"_I wonder why that one's obedient?" _Orick thought. Well, he'd soon find out.

"How dare you capture me!" one ermine was yelling. "Everyone obeys _me_!" Fishtooth struggled to get the ermine into a chair and tied.

"Will you stop wiggling!?" Fishtooth snapped.

"Never!" the ermine shouted.

"Will someone help me?" Fishtooth pleaded.

Orick smirked a little. The struggling ermine was evidently embarrassing himself, as the whole horde had their attention. Deatheye came over and kicked the ermine in the stomach. The ermine obviously was hurt by the kick, but he didn't stop struggling.

"Give me your knife, Fishtooth," Deatheye said.

Fishtooth handed him the knife. The writhing ermine felt something against his throat. He knew it was a knife, and he immediately stopped squirming.

"Thank you, Deatheye," Fishtooth said.

"Go get Orick," Deatheye ordered.

Valker, meanwhile, had no trouble getting his ermine into a chair and tied. He was quite surprised when the ermine didn't struggle.

Orick sat down in front of the two ermines and looked square at the one with black spots. Deatheye took the knife away from the ermine's throat. "Don't you try anything clever; I have a knife where I can get it." Orick flashed his knife and then put it away. Orick could tell the ermine he was looking at was furious. The other one, however, didn't show any emotion at all.

"What's your name?" he asked the ermine in front of him.

"I'm Gripthroat, also known as Cutthroat. I'm noted for my tendency to cut people's throats."

Orick turned to the other ermine, who hadn't moved an inch.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"I'm Winderstorm. I'm the lieutenant for Gripthroat."

Orick was getting the idea that Winderstorm was far more civilized than Gripthroat.

As they were speaking, the storm clouds from that morning started to go over Orick's camp. They heard a rumble in the distance.

"Take Winderstorm inside," Orick said.

"What about me?" Gripthroat asked.

"We're leaving you out here," Deatheye stated.

"WHAT!" Gripthroat exploded.

While Gripthroat argued with Orick, Deatheye thought Winderstorm looked familiar.

"_He almost looks like my brother," _Deatheye thought, _"But what would my brother be doing here? He was the weakest of the family." _


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry about the double chapter last chapter. Anyway, here's chapter three! **

Deatheye and Fishtooth went inside the tent. Kesarr was teasing Winderstorm with food.

"Kesarr, stop it," Deatheye said firmly.

"What? I was just havin' a little fun," Kesarr said. Deatheye rolled his eyes.

"Can I speak to Winderstorm in private?" he said.

Kesarr and Fishtooth were about to answer when they heard a boom, and then a torrent of rain on their tent.

"Oh,great," Fishtooth said. Kesarr poked his head out and drew it back in. Smirking, he turned to Deatheye.

"What's so funny?" Deatheye asked. Kesarr gestured Deatheye to poke his head out-he did, and saw Gripthroat getting soaked by the rain.

"You no good lying weasels!" he shouted. For some reason, Deatheye felt sorry for him, but he'd never had these feelings before. He'd always been tough, and he wondered if he was softening.

Meanwhile, in Orick's tent, Orick filled Valker's glass with wine.

"Job well done; I'm proud of you both," he said.

"Thank you sir," Valker said-inside him, though, he screamed hatred.

"I'm possibly thinking about a promotion for you two," Orick said.

"That would be great," Valker said. _"That will the best excuse to overthrow him," _He thought.

"Before we go any further, I want you to check to see if Gripthoat's still there." Valker poked his head outside, and quickly drew it back in. "He's gone," he said.

"What? Impossible!" Orick said. He looked out and saw the empty chair. The rain had lessened, and the ground was very muddy.

Orick ran to Deatheye's tent and told everybody to search for Gripthroat. "Always have your weapons at the ready," Orick said.

"Hey! My knife's gone!" Fishtooth said. "He must have stolen it!"

Suddenly, they heard a scream. They ran towards it, and saw an ermine lying on the ground, throat slit. "Be observant, everyone," Deatheye said.

They heard a rustle, and Orick tore towards it. Gripthroat burst out and ran. Orick threw his knife, but it missed. Orick stared to gain on Gripthroat. As they rounded the last corner, Orick almost had his paws on Gripthroat. _"I have you now," _Orick thought. Suddenly, Orick slipped sideways on the mud and thumped to the ground. He could hear Gripthroat laughing as he sped off into the woods. _"I'll get you one of these days," _Orick thought. _"Just you wait."_ Orick picked himself up, sore and half-covered with mud. He turned and saw his army staring at him.

"What are you looking at?" he snapped. "Chase after him!"

Kesarr ran up beside Orick. "You all right, sir?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Orick said. "That will be the last time Gripthroat embarrasses me."

**Well, quite an exciting chapter. Gripthroat's loose, and Orick has to catch him. **

**Until next chapter!**

**Padra the Otter **


	3. Chapter 3

While Deatheye and the army searched for Gripthroat, Orick and Valker stayed behind to guard Winderstorm.

While Orick sharpened his weapons, Valker went into the tent. He looked at Winderstorm and winked.

"I have something to tell you," he said, "we're planning to overthrow our leader. We've lived in fear of him too long."

Winderstorm looked at Valker in disbelief. "Do you think I care?" he asked.

"Well, I just want to know if you'll help."

"Help with what?" Orick asked as he came into the tent.

Valker felt sudden embarrassment. "Um...nothing," he said quickly.

Orick immediately smelled a rat. He drew his newly-sharpened dagger and held Valker at sword-point. "What are you planning to do with this horde? Speak now if you want to keep your life!"

Valker's all too familiar fear of Orick came back.

"Um..." Winderstorm started to say.

"Stay out of this!" Orick snapped. He pressed the dagger threateningly against Valker's chest. "Speak up! I'm waiting."

"That we should kill Kesarr," Valker blurted out. Orick put his dagger away.

"Good job. I've always wanted to kill that ignorant cretin," he said. "We won't do it just yet, though. Kesarr has a lot of faith in me." Orick left the tent.

Valker blew air out of his mouth. He waited until Orick was out of ear-shot. "See what I have to deal with?" he asked Winderstorm. "He thinks he can do whatever he wants to us."

Deatheye moved stealthily along the trail. The army had split up, and Fishtooth accompanied him.

"Always be observant," Deatheye said.

"Certainly," Fishtooth said.

The army met back up at a trial intersection.

"Okay, everyone," Deatheye said, "we now..." Suddenly, a volley of arrows rained down on the army, cutting down half of it. Fishtooth got hit in the shoulder with an arrow.

"It's an ambush! We're surrounded!" Deatheye shouted. He drew his sword as their adversary ermines leaped from the trees. Deatheye recognized one of them. "Gripthroat," Deatheye growled. Again, however, those feelings of compassion came back. As the battle raged around him, he suddenly realized he'd been standing still too long. Just as he was about to turn, someone knocked him out. Deatheye's army, seeing their leader down, fled the area.

Orick waited impatiently for Deatheye. _"He should be here by now," _he thought.

In the tent, Valker was making a deal with Winderstorm.

"If you help me overthrow Orick, I'll help you escape. Deal?"

"Okay," Winderstorm agreed.

Orick heard shouting voices, a yell, and a thump. He rushed over to the tent and saw Valker on the ground, slashed across the chest, and an empty chair with ropes dangling.

Orick picked Valker up, furious. "How did he escape?! I want answers!"

"He just escaped, sir, that's all I can tell you," Valker said.

Livid, Orick threw Valker to the ground and put his rapier to Valker's throat. "No more games, Valker," Orick said darkly, "I want the truth."

Suddenly, something struck the back of Orick's head, knocking him out.

Valker looked up. "Thanks, Winderstorm," he said.

"Now, we have to make this camp look abandoned," Winderstorm said.

Before long, Winderstorm and Valker were sneaking away.

"Isn't Deatheye going to get a surprise," Valker said.

"I feel sorry for him, though," Winderstorm said.

"Why would you feel compassion for an adversary?" Valker asked.

Winderstorm took a deep breath. "Because I'm his brother."

**Oh, boy! Orick's horde is falling apart. **

**Wow, a plot twist! Winderstorm is Deatheye's brother, which explains why Deatheye felt compassion for them. **

**Until next chapter! **

**Padra the Otter **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 5! Enjoy! **

"How come Deatheye didn't tell us?" Valker said.

"He probably didn't want to damage his reputation," Winderstorm said.

"He's as bad as Orick," Valker stated.

"He has a soft side to him," Winderstorm said.

"No, he doesn't," Valker said, "I've been beaten by him before. He's as cruel as Orick."

"Don't talk about my brother that way," Winderstorm said defensively, drawing his dagger. "He has good in him-I know it."

"Why are you trying to persuade me to believe something that isn't true?" Valker argued.

"But it is true!" Winderstorm argued. "Hear me out on this one-it's completely true."

"It isn't!" Valker insisted.

"You're just so pig-headed, aren't you!" Winderstorm shouted.

"I don't why I rescued you anyway-you're believing stuff that's false," Valker said.

It isn't false-it's true," Winderstorm said.

"We made a deal, in case you forgot, that you would _cooperate,_" Valker said. "I would rescue you, and you'd help me overthrow Orick."

"Who said anything about a deal?" Winderstorm said.

"You know what?" Valker yelled, drawing his dagger as well, "You're a selfish little weasel, and I will kill you!"

"Fine!" Winderstorm yelled back.

Valker threw his dagger at Winderstorm, but Winderstorm's quick reflexes saved him; he ducked and the dagger sailed over his head.

_"What!" _Valker thought.

While Valker was still recovering from his shock, Winderstorm threw his dagger. Valker ducked a little too late, and the blade skimmed his shoulder.

Valker yelled and pressed his paw to his shoulder to stop the bleeding.

"Look here..." Winderstorm began, but Valker was too angry for a compromise. He picked up some rocks and chucked them, hoping to hit Winderstorm. They did, and bruises began forming on his body.

"Get out of my sight, you cretin!" Valker yelled.

They both went their separate ways, Valker holding his shoulder and stewing about the argument. _"What a complete idiot," _Valker thought. _"If he wants to get himself killed, fine." _

Meanwhile, Winderstorm made for Gripthroat's camp. _"That place is better than here,"_he thought.

* * *

Deatheye woke up in a standing position. He looked down and realized he was tied. _"How did I get here?" _he thought. Suddenly, someone slapped him in the face.

"Wake up!" a voice shouted.

"I am awake," Deatheye snapped.

"Hmm," the other ermine said.

Deatheye was unbound and thrown at the feet of two ermines. He looked up and recognized one of them. _"Gripthroat," _he thought. The other one he didn't recognize: he was white, and he had a scar running around his body, like he was severely injured by something.

"Stand up," the ermine said. Deatheye stood up. "Raise your paws," Gripthroat ordered. Deatheye showed he was unarmed.

"Now," Gripthroat began, "you're accused of attacking my horde."

"What! I did no such thing," Deatheye objected. Without warning, the other ermine swished out his sword and put it to Deatheye's throat.

"You object one more time, and I slit your throat," he threatened. Deatheye glared at him, and the ermine stared back with cold eyes.

"Whiplash, that's enough," Gripthroat said. Whiplash backed away.

"He can be quite irascible," Gripthroat said, "so unless you want your throat cut, you'd better behave yourself."

_"What have I gotten myself into?" _Deatheye thought.

* * *

Orick woke up with the sun in his face. He groaned and sat up, shielding his eyes from it. Judging from the sun's position, it was late afternoon.

_"What happened?"_ he thought. _"How did I end up here?"_ It all came back in a sudden memory. _"Valker! That worthless cretin! I'm going to rip his head off!" _Furious, Orick sprang up, grabbed his weapons, and stormed off into the forest.

**So, Valker had a argument and fight with Winderstorm; Deatheye has been captured; and Orick's livid at Valker. **

**They have to collide eventually. **

**Padra the Otter **


	5. Chapter 5

Deatheye couldn't remember being tortured this bad. Gripthroat's horde malnourished him, forcing him to go without food for long periods of time and forcing him to work endlessly; eventually, he became too weak to stand, and he collapsed and blacked out while working.

_"Am I destined to die here?" _he thought.

* * *

Valker ate the last of his provisions which he'd stolen from a mouse. As he was putting out the fire, he heard a rustle and snap. He swished out his dagger and waited, adrenalin rushing through him. He saw something move in the shrubbery, and he shouted, "Hey!" The figure stepped into sight, and Valker relaxed and put his dagger away.

"What are you doing here, Fishtooth?" Valker asked.

Fishtooth walked over to him. "You need to move on, now," he said.

"Why's that?" Valker said.

"Orick hunting for you. He wants you dead."

Valker scoffed. "If he does, it will be the last time he messes with me."

"You need to pack up and move," Fishtooth said, "unless you want your throat slit in the night."

"I'm not going anywhere," Valker stated. "I can't trust anyone these days."

"Not even me - your best friend?" Fishtooth asked.

Valker heart softened a little. He could tell Fishtooth had genuine concern for him; he could see it in his eyes. _"Maybe I should listen," _he thought.

* * *

Orick searched in vain for Valker. _"That worthless cretin going to get what he deserves!" _he thought. He first had to _find _him, though. Orick heard a rustling, and he whirled around to see two ermines standing in the path. "Bloodshot, Spitfire, what are you doing here?"

"We thought you might need help tracking," Spitfire said. He did his best to conceal the smirk on his face.

"Fine," Orick said. "Start tracking." Spitfire and Bloodshot went ahead of him. When Bloodshot thought Orick wasn't looking, he slid his finger across his throat to Spitfire and jerked his head towards Orick. Spitfire smirked in response.

* * *

Deatheye woke up in a bed in a tent. His stomach growled fiercely, and he was ravenous. He was too weak to move, and he wondered if he would live.

* * *

Bloodshot and Spitfire led Orick. There were trying to kill him, and they couldn't keep their smiles in.

"What are you smiling at?" Orick asked them.

They didn't know what to answer. "Um..." Spitfire stammered, "I don't know; we're just happy."


End file.
